


Night of the Dogman

by sweetcarolanne



Category: Original Work
Genre: Bigfoot - Freeform, Cats, Cryptids, Dogman - Freeform, F/F, Gen, Ghosts, Halloween, Knitting, Magic, Magical Realism, Monsters, Pre-Femslash, Pre-Relationship, Protectiveness, Sasquatch, Shapeshifting, Spooky, Trick or Treat: Trick
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2020-12-27 13:31:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21119612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweetcarolanne/pseuds/sweetcarolanne
Summary: Mild-mannered librarian by day, Queen of the Cats by night...Lena, overlady of all felines, prepares to face an ancient foe who grows strongest at Halloween. But will she - and her feline companions - need the help of a mighty Bigfoot queen and her kin to defeat the evil Dogman?





	Night of the Dogman

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dreamiflame](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamiflame/gifts).

> Dear recipient, I hope that this is something along the lines of what you wanted! Happy Halloween! <3
> 
> Many thanks to my anonymous beta.

Dusk was falling and shadows were growing long on the pavement as Lena bade her colleagues at the library goodbye and walked into the bustling street. Her small, slender figure, clad in a plain white blouse and black pencil skirt, was indistinguishable from the other everyday drones making their way on foot to their cars or the nearest public transport. Only her glossy auburn hair, wound into a simple bun, gave her a touch of brightness and beauty.

Any other evening would have seen Lena hurrying home to her knitting needles and a stack of colourful, fluffy balls of wool, eager to work on the sweetest little booties and beanies ever made for a friend’s first baby, due to be born any day. But on that night, far more was at stake than having home-made gifts ready for the new arrival.

If Lena failed in her mission that night, there might not even be a town, let alone a newborn godchild for her. An ancient evil would reach full strength on Halloween, and only Lena and her kin stood between it and the people of the town.

When Lena reached the park, everything began to change, and so did she.

Trees began to tower higher than before, and the world was an enticing swirl of sounds and scents that no ordinary human could perceive. As the sun began to disappear, Lena was no longer ordinary, nor was she a human.

On all fours, tail erect and ears pricked, the Queen of the Cats stood beneath a gnarled oak tree in the middle of the park in all her tortoiseshell glory. 

She gave a piercing cry, which was echoed seconds later by many more feline voices. Out of the bushes and along the many pathways of the park, cats of all ages, sizes and colours were walking, bounding and slinking towards their monarch.

The twins, Crown Princesses of the mighty tribe of cats and Lena’s younger sisters, reached Lena first. They greeted her with gentle nose-touches and deep, throaty purrs. Margot and Moira were their names, and they were both black as coal and perfectly identical, even down to the star-shaped patches of white on each one’s chest.

Lena was, of course, very glad to see them, but her heart sank at the sight of their drooping tails and the sombre look in their eyes.

“We just came back from the cottage, and Elmer’s gone,” Margot mewed, flattening her ears back against the sides of her head. 

“That priest we saw going in there last week must have managed to cross him over,” Moira added, her tail swishing back and forth. “How will we manage to fight without his magic?”

“We’ll just have to do the best we can, just us cats,” Lena replied, but her whole stance was far less confident than it had been before. She cast a worried glance towards the street and all around her, noticing that many little human-shaped figures, dressed as goblins, ghosts, witches and superheroes were already out and about, shadowed by protective parents who would sadly be no use against the approaching threat the cats were on the alert for.

“Elmer has been a ghost for almost ninety years, so it stands to reason that he would have become tired of this world and want to be with his loved ones in the light,” Lena said, exchanging glum looks with her sisters. “Whatever unfinished business kept him here to start with was not us or our battles with the Dogmen.”

“But why did he choose to leave right now?” a fourth voice said, and the three sisters looked over to see a large white cat approaching with determined footsteps and blue eyes flashing. “I’ve seen this cur lurking near the outskirts of town when I’ve been out hunting. He’s the last of his pack, and we could have taken him out easily with Elmer’s help!”

“I know, Elise, I know,” Lena replied, trying to reassure her oldest friend with very little success. Elise was pacing up and down by this time, making every cat in the vicinity very nervous indeed. “I’ve done my best to find other reinforcements. This very afternoon I was down at the gifting tree and left large helpings of apples and freshly cut steak, and it was gone when I checked back. I hope this means the forest giants might help us.”

Lena’s eyes shone with a genuine flicker of hope, for she had caught sight of Kuma peeking out from behind a tall pine tree before she left the area. Magnificent Kuma, well over seven feet tall, muscular yet curvaceous and covered in such rich, thick chocolate-brown fur that it made Lena want to just curl up in the Bigfoot matriarch’s lap and purr. Kuma smelled nice, too - hints of wildflower perfume or fresh pine scent always sweetened the air when the forest monarch was around, for Kuma was a skilled herbalist and knew how to bring forth the aromas that Lena loved most. Her tribe were people, not the animals some mistakenly considered them to be, and their eyes were human and kind despite their size and strength. Lena considered them to be very like her own cat-people, a different type of human being, but human just the same.

It was the Dogmen who were truly bestial, all skulking, predatory stealth and fiendish cunning.

Elise brought Lena back to reality with a discouraged mew.

“I wouldn’t count on them assisting us, Lena. Kuma may like you, but the Bigfoots don’t like or trust the townsfolk much, so I doubt if they’d make an effort to save them,” Elise growled, twitching one nicked ear in agitation. The twins looked glum again, which made Lena straighten her ears and tail in determination.

“We’re not going to let anything stop us,” Lena snapped. “We may not have enough troops to mount an attack against this mangy cur, but perhaps we can bluff our way out of this!” 

She turned to Elise and commanded, “Make sure cats are stationed in every part of the town where children might wander, General, and see that a few of the older ones stay here to guard the littlest kittens.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Elise replied, and strode off with a proud, brave posture despite her misgivings. Motioning for Margot and Moira to follow her, Lena too took up a proud strut as she made her way towards the forest on the outskirts of town where cat scouts had reported the latest sighting of the Dogman.

He was still in the area when the three royal cats, now being followed by a small group of tomcats who formed the queen’s guard, approached. Lena realized with a sinking heart that he must have caught their scent before the felines detected his. A low growl, feral and vicious, rumbled through the air as the beast rose from behind a clump of thorny bushes and bared his teeth at the approaching cats.

He was old and sick, Lena saw at first glance, with more white fur than black on his bony chest; he was also painfully thin for one of his kind. But he still stood more than six feet tall and moved with a menacing grace, even if he was no longer at the height of his powers.

Lena’s sisters and the tomcat guards arched their backs and hissed, backing up a step or two, but the queen stood her ground and glared at the Dogman, looking him straight in the eye as she snarled, “Go! You are not welcome here!”

The Dogman flashed his yellowed teeth again, growling louder this time as he advanced towards Lena. His eyes glowed red as he uttered a sinister sound, half laughter and half bark.

“Who will make me? You and what army, pussy-cat?” 

Lena’s heart raced as she struggled to think of what to say next. Her companions had moved forward to flank their queen, summoning their courage in case they had to brave the overwhelming odds and defend her. Lena’s fur was standing on end, and she flattened her ears, revealing her own sharp pointed teeth to the monster.

And then a deep but distinctly female voice rang out from the forest.

“This army, beast!” 

Out of the woods many massive, hair-covered figures emerged, some eight feet tall or more. Silent as shadows, they slipped out from behind the trees and towered over the Dogman, who visibly flinched, his eyes rolling back in his head and his hackles up.

As Kuma strode in his direction, striking the ground with a broken tree-branch and roaring as she did so, the Dogman saw that he had no chance against her, let alone the rest of her kin. In an instant he had slunk away, tail between his legs, and Lena allowed herself to relax at last.

Reverting to human form, she stepped towards Kuma and offered the Bigfoot matriarch her hand.

“Thank you,” Lena whispered, and she saw a smile flicker across the other royal lady’s face as Kuma took the pale, slender hand in her own dark, hairy one, and actually bent to give it a soft kiss. Then Lena found herself being swept up in huge furry arms and hugged tightly until she was dizzy and breathless with delight, while Lena’s sisters and the tomcat guards watched with almost palpable amusement.

Lena began to wonder if Kuma would like a pair – or several pairs – of comfortable home-knitted socks in natural forest hues for those gloriously large and very regal feet.


End file.
